From Legal Briefs to Bold Moves: How Strategic Marketing Elevated a Law Firm

OBJECTIVE

The CIM team met with a relatively small, successful business-to-business law firm based in Las Vegas. The firm was six years old and had grown to about 10 full-time attorneys. The firm was healthy, with a strong client base that filled the new business pipeline. There were two primary concerns: 1.) The office manager had fallen into the marketing role by default, as nobody else was available to do everything from updating the website and attorney bio sheets, to figuring out how to create an ad for an event program. 2.) The firm was virtually unknown to anyone outside the realm of those familiar with the firm's attorneys. In other words, not many knew the firm existed. Therefore, the objective with interviewing our agency was to potentially help them with all things marketing.

STRATEGIC PLAN

It was clear from the initial meeting that the firm would benefit from a comprehensive, strategic approach to marketing. Because there was no one in-house with the time, experience or inclination to conceive, implement and manage marketing strategies and tactics, it was appropriate to propose that CIM serve as their complete, outsourced marketing department…and that is what we proposed.

We began with a Strategic Marketing Summit®, our trademarked session wherein we learn about a client’s firm, vision, specific business goals and competitive landscape to then propose a comprehensive, strategic marketing and public relations gameplan to increase brand awareness amongst their target audiences, grow their revenue, attract right-fit clients, grow the value of their brand and establish the entity as the go-to for clients and employees.

EXECUTION

After the Summit, our team created a detailed gameplan document that outlined everything the firm should be doing from a marketing and public relations standpoint. This included dozens and dozens of tactics, such as:

  • Updated website to contain content (written and video) to speak directly to the target audiences of the firm and incorporate calls to action throughout the site.
  • Marketing collateral (printed and PDF versions), including a firm overview brochure and more than a dozen practice-area-specific trifolds.
  • A public relations strategy that routinely included news releases (case wins, new hires, etc.) to disseminate to media contacts. In addition, media pitches garnered articles, Q&A profiles and inclusions in magazines’ legal focus issues.
  • Direct mail campaigns to referral sources.
  • Advertising campaigns.
  • Routine client communications, including several versions of a firm newsletter, directly speaking to particular audiences.
  • Other client and referral source touchpoints, including holiday cards/gifts and periodic open houses at the firm.

RESULTS

As all of these marketing efforts were carried out, brand awareness increased substantially. As new matters continued to increase, right-fit hires of attorneys and support staff became frequent. The firm grew to one of the largest full-service B2B law firms in the State of Nevada. Additional offices were added to include Reno and Salt Lake City. Today, the firm has more than 50 attorneys providing quality legal services to thousands of clients and enjoys a reputation as the go-to for more routine matters, as well as high-stakes litigation. More than 20 years later, CIM Marketing Partners remains the outsourced marketing department for the firm. It has been a true partnership, one that has evolved over time. Each year, a Summit is held to review the prior year, evaluate the competitive landscape and match business goals to the next year’s marketing tactics. Of course, as tactics and opportunities have changed (such as social media and online advertising), they were incorporated into the marketing mix. Through all the ups and downs of the economy, the firm has continued to invest in marketing, and its overall brand value demonstrates the results.